oh tannenbaum

We lucked out with a gloriously warm winter day to go and cut ourselves down a fresh Christmas tree.  Over the years I’ve piled up so many experiences where we are frantically choosing Christmas Trees in the biting cold air that this day felt like a true gift.   We drove up to Cranes Neck Farm, parked our little mini van and loaded onto a tractor where they hauled us through acres of Christmas trees to the top of a hill where we got out and leisurely picked our tree.  After the usual debacle over which tree to choose (where the kids and Jeff want to go with the first one we see and I want to carefully look at at least 20 trees before deciding) we chopped one down.  It’s amazing how exciting it is for kids to chop down a tree.  They were in heaven. 

Then we just stayed and played in the Christmas tree forest.  It was 70 degrees, why not!   

I love getting our Christmas tree.  I love the way putting that tree in the corner changes the whole feeling of our house.  It means the season is here.  It means I can listen to Christmas music without feeling like a cheater (I like to start listening as soon as the days get shorter).  Our house smells of pine, there are needles everywhere and there is the constant soft glow of those twinkling white lights.  I love Christmas trees. 

After letting the tree sit for a day or two we hauled all the Christmas boxes up and started decorating.  I put on the tree lights, but that’s really about it.  Suddenly this year I have so little control over the whole decorating process.  The kids remember how it is all supposed to be as if it’s burned into their little hearts.  They madly took things out and placed them in their proper places.  I was pretty tense the whole time,  it’s time to give up control Saydi!  These guys are growing up! 

Even though it felt like a big whirlwind, it was so great going through the box of ornaments.  Always feels like a trip down memory lane, taking out all those ornaments from Christmas’s past.  Every year my mother in law sends an ornament to each kid and they love finding “their” ornaments.  Emmeline especially loved it this year.  I’ve decided that three is the perfect Christmas age.  She get's it and she’s old enough to remember some personal Christmas history. 

And then there’s Peter. Every minute it seems he is strengthening the skills he needs to topple over our beautiful Christmas tree.  How can we hold him off for two weeks?  The army crawl has started already.